In the week of Symantec’s firing of CEO Steve Bennett, a leading analyst familiar with the security firm has suggested he lacked the technical expertise for the role.
Bennett, who became CEO less than two years ago, was replaced by board member Michael Brown on an interim basis as the antivirus maker suffered from declining revenue and slumping shares.
A statement released by Symantec said that the decision to let go of Bennett was "the result of an ongoing deliberative process and not precipitated by any event or impropriety".
However, Gene Ruth, the leading analyst of Symantec at Gartner, told CBR: "He was not a technical person and it’s possible that the board of directors were looking for someone that has more technical vision and prowess in that area.
"So my guess would be that now that the organisation has been set up and the implementations are underway now, what they need is a technically oriented person who can set the vision for the company, so I’d be looking for someone to come out of a high tech area to fill Steve shoes."
He added: "I sat down with him four days after he took the job and a couple of times after that. He’s a measured type of person, and he seemed quite interested and level-headed… and he knows how to build teams and get productivity out of teams."
The firm reported in January a 5% decline in revenue for the third quarter ending December 27, which Bennett blamed on changes in the structure of the company’s sales team.
